The Last Fight Practice at Seaside Church.

.....It is a rather strange evening. Our last Fight Practice to be held at Seaside Church in Bremerton. We've been coming here for like four or five years now and it really feels like we've ALWAYS been coming here. I will miss the place in a lot of ways. It is a good setting for us. The large open area downstairs that can be used for Fight Practice on wet, cold evenings. The upstairs classrooms that can be used for social and class gatherings. Then Evergreen Park right across the street for Fight Practice on those days where the weather actually cooperates.

.....I remember when Eileen found us this place for our meetings. We were a little on the desperate side and this seemed a little like paradise. Especially if you consider that we had spent several years previously hopscotching various establishments in the quest for a decent Business Meeting site. Squeezing our Business Meetings into small alcoves, or dealing with stale cigarette smoke and dark meetings rooms. Looking back I guess that I really should be a lot more grateful about how good we've actually had it for the past handful of years.

.....Seaside Church is going to go through a total remodel. I was given a little warning by Liesel, who is a parent to a child who attends the Montessori School here at Seaside. But I was thinking that we were going to get by for a little while longer because the messages and e-mails I was leaving with the Church Leaders were going unanswered. Then about two nights after the last Business Meeting and e-mail pops up in my inbox letting me know about their plans and that I have basically until the end of May to clear my loose ends. Ack! Not a lot of warning!

.....I'm not really upset though. We are getting a break on our final rent payments, and they let us have our June Business Meeting on site so as to ensure that all the populace received a warning. Which is something that they didn't really have to do, so I'm grateful. There is talk of us moving back into the Church later this year after the remodel is complete, but the Church Leader was reluctant to make a real commitment, so I'm not going to hold my breath on that.

.....So, we're on the look out for new digs again. For an interim fix we're going to move Fight Practice to Silverdale Waterfront Park through the summer. We've done it before, so it will not be a huge burden. There are issues with Silverdale. Lots of loose teenagers. Conflicts with picnic crowds and such. The weather can be a bit iffy sometimes, even in the summer. But we'll make it work until we find a place for the winter. Got a couple of ideas already in mind if I can get a few bugs worked out.

.....But we are very used to the Waterfront Park, and it has other advantages. It is very centrally located. Has a covered area. Has restrooms nearby. Has plenty of parking. The kids play area is located within easy eyeshot and earshot of the covered area. There is a separate covered area available for meeting space. It not an altogether bad choice.

.....The Business Meeting is a bit more problematic. I have a stop gap for July, but am not entirely sure what I'm going to do for August. But I'm rolling along with a couple of ideas. If I can get the bugs worked out with the local school district we could be looking pretty good there as well. It would be a very good thing if I could get the Business Meeting moved OFF of Tuesdays so that we get actually FOUR Fight Practices a month instead of the three we have going now. A little consistency would be nice. :-)

.....But I will miss Seaside. Hard to believe how much I think of it as home...

.....Aaron / Arontius.